Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach, and Bacon Chicken recipe - the chicken breasts are seasoned with dry Italian salad dressing mix, smothered with the creamed spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and bacon, and baked to perfection! The best baked chicken ever!
If you want to know how to cook the best chicken breasts, this is the recipe for you! No more boring, dry chicken. A lot of people prefer to bake their chicken vs. frying it on the stove top, and in this recipe the chicken breasts are baked in the oven and are very juicy and moist and flavorful thanks to all the stuff on top!
This Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach, and Bacon Smothered Chicken is one of the best chicken breast recipes I ever made! It's just like stuffed chicken, instead you put everything on top and bake!
How to make Sun-Dried Tomato Spinach Bacon Chicken:
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Use 4 small chicken breasts or 2 large chicken breast, sliced horizontally in half.
Butter the bottom of the baking dish. Season chicken breasts from both sides with the Italian salad dressing mix. Place the chicken breasts, flat side down, into the greased baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 F.
In the mean time, make the creamed spinach. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add spinach and cook for only 1 or 2 minutes until it is heated through and starts to wilt. Remove from heat. Add minced garlic and half and half. Bring to boil. Add shredded mozzarella cheese and keep stirring, on high heat, until mozzarella cheese starts to melt - about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to simmer and keep stirring until you have a nice, smooth creamed spinach - about 30 seconds or 1 more minutes. The creamed spinach should be pretty thick in texture, not watery. If watery, bring to boil again and cook off extra liquid, constantly stirring. Season with salt. Remove from heat.
Remove the baking pan with chicken breasts from the oven (you baked them for 15-20 minutes):
Top each chicken breast with creamed spinach:
Then, top with sun-dried tomatoes (drained from oil and chopped into smaller bites):
Next, top with chopped cooked bacon:
Next, top with the broken slices of pepper jack cheese.
Bake in the oven, uncovered for 15-20 more minutes, until the smothered chicken is completely cooked through, no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear:
These are really some of the best baked chicken breasts I ever made!
Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach, and Bacon Chicken
Ingredients
Baked Chicken Breasts:
Creamed spinach:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 6 oz baby spinach fresh
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- ⅔ cup half and half
- ⅔ cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Other ingredients:
- ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes drained of oil, chopped into smaller bites
- 4 slices bacon cooked
- 4 slices Pepper Jack cheese or Monterey cheese with jalapenos
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Butter the bottom of the baking dish. Season chicken breasts from both sides with the Italian salad dressing mix. Place the chicken breasts, flat side down, into the greased baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 F.
How to make creamed spinach:
- In the mean time, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add spinach and cook for only 1 or 2 minutes until it is heated through and starts to wilt. Remove from heat. Add minced garlic and half and half. Bring to boil. Add shredded mozzarella cheese and keep stirring, on high heat, until mozzarella cheese starts to melt - about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to simmer and keep stirring until you have a nice, smooth creamed spinach - about 30 seconds or 1 more minutes. The creamed spinach should be pretty thick in texture, not watery. If watery, bring to boil again and cook off extra liquid, constantly stirring. Season with salt. Remove from heat.
Smothered Chicken Breasts:
- Remove the baking pan with chicken breasts from the oven (you baked them for 15-20 minutes). Top each chicken breast with creamed spinach, sun-dried tomatoes (drained from oil and chopped into smaller bites), chopped cooked bacon, and broken slices of pepper jack cheese. Bake in the oven, uncovered for 15-20 more minutes, until the chicken is completely cooked through, no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I tried this and it was Delicious !!!!
Is that 766 calories and 58 g of fat per serving?!?! Or the whole dish?
Turned excellent! A perfect balance of many flavors. Saving this one for sure.
Glad you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Can you freeze this dish? Delicious!
Yes, you can freeze this. Use air-tight freezer bags or an air-tight container.
I want to try this! It looks delicious.
Enjoy!
Can you recommend a side dish to go with this meal?
You could serve this with any type of rice - jasmine rice, wild rice, flavored rice. Or, serve this over cauliflower rice.
Other side dish ideas are mashed cauliflower, mashed potatoes, or lemon roasted potatoes.
Or, serve this with roasted asparagus or roasted broccoli.
I made these for dinner tonight and they were delicious. Wouldn't change a thing!
Thank you, Cindy, for the comment! Glad you liked the recipe!
Delicious!
Thank you! 🙂
Amazing Chicken!! Loved it!
Happy to hear that!
Made this tonight. Easy and delicious! Thanks for providing another tasty recipe to my PINTEREST board.
Susan, I am so glad you tried this recipe and enjoyed it! 🙂
What other cheese can you use to top chicken with? We do not care for pepper jack or other spicy cheeses.
You could use Mozzarella, Asiago, Parmesan cheese.
58 gms of FAT?
Forgive my ignorance but in the recipe ingredients it says in the creamy spinach
2/3 cup half and half,
Of what please and by the way I'm making it tonight
If you don't have half-and-half, here is what you can do: use 1/2 cup of whole milk + 1/2 cup of heavy creamy to substitute for 1 cup of half-and-half.
Made this last night and added sautéed mushrooms to the top and used feta cheese instead. It was excellent!
Glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I made this for dinner tonight, I mixed the tomatoes and bacon with the spinach mixture and ladled it over the chicken and topped with chipotle cheddar cheese. Served it with crispy potato stacks, very tasty
Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
What’s half & half please I live in Nz?
To make 1 cup of half-and-half, combine 1/2 cup of whole milk + 1/2 cup of heavy cream.